Watch-chain bar.



No. 652,764. Patented July 3, I900.

M. D. FERGUSON.

WATCH CHAIN BAR.

(Application filed 950.30, 1,399.

(No Model.)

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U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARTIN DUNSMURE FERGUSON, OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE.

WATCH-CHAIN BAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 652,764, dated July 3, 1900.

Application filed December 30, 1899- Scrlal No. 742,078. (No model.)

To aZl whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MARTIN DUNSMURE FERGUSON, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Knoxville, in the county of Knox and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Watch- Ohain Bars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a new and useful construction of watch-chain bar adapted to be placed upon the end of the Watch-chain to be inserted in the buttonhole of the vest for the purpose of holding the chain in place.

The object of the present invention is to provide a device of this kind which can be quickly and easily inserted into the buttonhole, but cannot be accidentally pulled through the buttonhole in consequence of the members spreading to form a cross after insertion in the buttonhole.

With this object in view my invention con sists, essentially, of a bar having a central enlargement recessed to receive the ends of members arranged at an angle to the main bar, said members being pivoted within the recess adapted to be turned into alinement with the main bar and the springs contained within the recess to return them to their normal positions at an angle to the main bar, thereby providing a cross-shaped watch-chain bar.

The invention consists also in certain details of construction and novelties of combination, all of which will be fully described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a Watch-chain bar constructed in accordance with my invention, the central portion being broken away to expose the pivotal construction of one of the members. Fig. 2 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section, the portion of the bar and the inner members be ing shown in section. Fig. 3 isa detail view of the main bar, showing the central portion recessed to receive the'member; and Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view showing the pivotal end of one of the members.

In carrying out myinvention I employ a main bar A, which is enlarged centrally at A, said central enlargement being preferably in the form of a sphere; but it will of course of any desired shape or form, and likewise the main bar A. The opposite faces of the enlargement A are recessed, as shown at B,

and pivoted in said recesses are the inner ends of the members 0, said pivotal ends being reduced, as shown at O, and provided with an eye or lug O at the extreme end thereof. A pivot-pin D passes through the enlargement and also through the perforations Oiproduced in the end of the member 0, and in this manner the members are pivotally connected to the main bar. A coil-spring E is arranged in each recess, one end of said spring being securely fixed at the end of said recess, while the other end is connected to the perforated lug or eye C The purpose of this spring is to hold the member 0 in its proper position,

as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

When it is desired to insert the bar into the buttonhole, the members 0 are passed into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and during such time the springs E are compressedwithin the recess, and as soon as pressure is removed from the members 0 the springs will'immediately expand and return the said members to their proper positions, and it will be noted that the members and the recesses are formed with abutting shoulders, so that the springs will always maintain the said members in the same relative position.

Any suitable form of link connection can be made between the central enlargement of the main bar and the watch-chain proper.

By having the watch-chain bar made in the form of a cross it will be clearly understood that it will be almost impossible for it to accidentally pass through the buttonhole; but when it is desired to remove the bar from said buttonhole it can be quickly and easily accomplished by pressing the members into the positions parallel with the main bar.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A watch-chain bar comprising a mainbar having supplemental bars or members pivbers pivoted in the recess of the said central portion, and the springs located in said recesses and adapted to hold the said supplemental bars or members at right angles to the main bar, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a watch-chain bar, the combination i with the main bar having a central enlargement, said central enlargement being recessed as described, of the supplemental bars or members having reduced ends pivoted in the said recesses, a spring in each of the re- 1 cesses one end engaging with the lug or eye and the other with the end of the recess, substantially as shown and described.

MARTIN DUNSM'URE FERGUSON. Witnesses:

Louis D. TRUAN, J ULES PRODOLLIET. 

